A Long Story Made Short - The Flapper Dress

Many Years Ago Women Paid a Pretty Penny for Their Short Flapper Dresses

Beginning in the 1920's, a new style called “Flapper” caught the interest of teenage and college age women. Considered provocative, the Flapper girl look completely changed the old standards of dress for women which reigned for over 100 years in America.

No Time for Corsets

Embracing the wearing of makeup but rejecting corsets and the traditional restrictive and voluminous dresses, the Flappers created an innovative and controversial style with flapper dresses.

Why the Flapper Style Dress?

The flapper style developed for two reasons. During and after World War I, women began to favor conservative styles that de-emphasized the female form. At the same time, Jazz became popular with young people. Girls and boys both loved to dance and were hindered by corsets and long skirts.

The Flapper Dress Revolution

In the early 1920's, young people started to revolt against the old strict social and moral habits.

Teenage girls refused to wear corsets and were increasingly drawn to the unruly jazz music. By their mid to late teens, girls began making their own dresses and undergarments. The first thing eliminated in the new style of dress was the corset. Patterns for the Flapper dress became available, ushering in home sewing of the new and exciting fashion.

The First Flapper Dresses

With flowing fabric, the Flapper dress allowed the wearer to spend hours in the jazz clubs, dancing the night away. Early versions of the Flapper dress had a mid-calf hemline, with layers of fabric sewn in such a way to reveal alternating glimpses of knees as the wearer walked. Both the dress length and loose waistlines were considered provocative.

Flapper Dresses were Played in "B" Flat

The loose waistline, dropped to the hips, emphasized the boyish figure popular at the time. Special undergarment designs developed, with straight lines to make girls look more flat-chested. Bras were made to flatten the chest and prevent “jiggling” while dancing.

For an even flatter line, simple tummy flatteners were used. The Flapper dress had taken it's hold on the youth but unnerved the older people. The term “Flapper dress” doesn't just mean the dress itself, but what accompanied the style.

Accessories for the 1920s Style Flapper Dress

Other flapper dress accessories included rayon stockings rolled down to the knee, in protest to the black wool ones popular until then.

Makeup, considered scandalous in the past, was all the rage. Previously only for actresses and prostitutes, red lipstick and thick black eyeliner became popular. Girls drank hard liquor, in public, during the Prohibition years.

Oh, What the Flapper Girls Did!!

Even the taboos of tobacco were broken. Flapper girls smoked cigarettes through fashionable long holders. The final assault on the dress standards of the time was the short, bobbed hair cut, also known as the Flapper cut.

1930: The End of the Flapper Dress Dynasty

During the 1930's, the free spirit and insubordination of the flapper dress couldn't stand up to the Great Depression. People couldn't afford to go to jazz clubs often, and materials to make the dresses had become expensive. Leaving its legacy in films of the time, the Flapper dress is the icon of the Roaring Twenties.

About the only time you see girls dressed up in flapper dresses these days are at Halloween costume parties or masquerade balls. Goes to show that nostalgic clothing never really goes out of style ... Got your flapper dress ready?